Facebook Messenger Introduces Group Calling Feature

Group calling is now available on Facebook Messenger in Android as well as iOS, allowing users to make voice call to dozens of friends at once over the internet.

This was announced yesterday, April 21, by the Facebook Head of Messaging products, David Marcus.

He said that the group voice calling feature is available to over 900 million users. It will be available on the latest version of Messenger for Android and iOS.

The group calls feature is currently limited to just 50 people but will be expanded soon.

Speaking at a Media Briefing, he said “If you have the latest version of Messenger, you should see the phone icon appear in group conversations within the next 24 hours. Give it a try, and as always, let us know how we can make it even better for you.”

For users, all you need to do is tap the Phone icon, select which of the group chat members you want included and they’ll all receive a Messenger call simultaneously. If you miss the initial call but it’s still in progress, you can tap the Phone icon in the group chat to join the call. At any time you can see who’s on the call and send another ping to anyone who hasn’t joined.

Unfortunately, Facebook Messenger does not support group video chats yet. If you want to have a group video chat, then it is recommended that you use Skype or Google Hangouts instead. Facebook will likely launch group video chats at some point to stay competitive against other messaging apps. Facebook Messenger currently has 900 million monthly active users and many of them are clamoring for a group video chat feature.

During the group call, the Messenger app will display the group name and the list of the participating users. Users that are invited to the call can accept or decline it. This feature can be useful for calling multiple family members, friends and business contacts at the same time.